☂ 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟐 ☂

21. TWO'S COMPANY, FIVE'S A CROWD

Elaina furrowed her brows in curiosity. "What kind of 'what if's?"

Five stared at her softly. "Well, I didn't realize that I loved you until shortly before I jumped, so I was still processing that when I made it to the apocalypse," Five brought his hand up from her hip and caressed Elaina's cheek. "What if I never jumped? What if I actually listened to the old man?" he sighed, staring into her eyes. "What if I told you how I felt before I left? What if you returned my feelings? What if we actually had a future together?" he said, repeating the questions he'd ask himself over the decades. "Elaina, you became my biggest 'what if'."

Elaina could visualize the 16-year-old Five, all alone in the apocalypse, playing back the moments he felt he missed out on. The thought broke her heart.

"And you became mine too," she confessed, laying her arm flat as she laid her head on top of it. "I wasn't lying when I told you I didn't handle your disappearance well. I dwelled on those 'what ifs' and they nearly destroyed me. I honestly owe a lot to Klaus, because if it weren't for him I probably would've lost it years ago," admitted Elaina with a sad smile, making Five frown slightly. "But enough about that, it's in the past, we're in the present now and we do have a future together," she assured him as she brought her hands up and cupped his face. "We're getting that goddamn briefcase, you hear me?"

Five cracked a smile at her. "I hear you,"

"Good," she nodded, letting go of his face.

"You know, this may sound embarrassing," started off Five, making Elaina look at him with raised brows. "But when we were kids, I wasn't sure if you even looked at me in that light since you and Klaus were always so... friendly with each other growing up."

"Klaus?" questioned Elaina with an entertained smile. "He was always more like a sister to me, even before he came out as pansexual," giggled Elaina. "I mean, there was that one time when we were seventeen..." reminisced the girl, making Five look at her with narrowed eyes."It was just a quick peck! We got high on the rooftop of the academy after Ben died, I was emotional and wasn't thinking straight. It was traumatizing for us both so he refuses to bring it up," she quickly explained. "If it wasn't obvious, Klaus prefers the male side of the spectrum,"

Five looked at her with his narrowed eyes and hummed. "Klaus has been at the center of a lot of your spontaneous actions while I was gone, huh?"

Elaina gave him a sheepish smile. "Would it be Klaus if he wasn't?"

"No, I guess it wouldn't," sighed Five, his hand resting on her waist. "Well, thank you for telling me. I could always rely on you, to be honest with me," he said, leaning in and kissing her forehead.

Elaina's sheepish smile dropped. "Honest..." she repeated, her mind shifting to a similar unwanted memory. The girl sighed, she had to tell him. "Five, there's something I have to... ah!" Elaina started off before a throbbing pain suddenly shot through her head as her hands flew to grip the sides of it.

"Elaina?" asked Five, propping himself up on his elbow as he tried to comfort her by rubbing her back.

She felt like there was a piece of her mind that was being blocked off, preventing her from accessing a memory as deja vu coursed through her. Elaina's mind flashed to white as a high pitch sound removed lingering doubts in her mind. "Ah, shit..." she groaned at the noise, turning her face into the bed.

"Another headache?" asked Five, bringing his hand up caress her head in comfort.

"Yeah, I think so," moaned Elaina, her voice muffled as she rubbed her face into the sheets, feeling the noise start to dull. The intense white light she felt began to disappear. "It's going away..." she confirmed as she turned her head to look at Five to give him a weak smile. "I'm okay,"